Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. It is the seat of the
Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the
Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of
German Catholicism and
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...
and was declared a
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
in 1996.
It is
Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 6 million people a year. At , the cathedral is the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the second tallest church in Europe after
Ulm Minster
Ulm Minster () is a Gothic Architecture, Gothic church (building), church located in Ulm, State of Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It was originally built as a Roman Catholic church (building), church but became a Lutheran Church in the 16th Cen ...
, and the
third tallest church of any kind in the world.
Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 but was halted in the years around 1560, unfinished. Attempts to complete the construction began around 1814 but the project was not properly funded until the 1840s. The edifice was completed to its original medieval plan in 1880.
The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world.
Cologne's medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the
reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''.
Relics may be the purported ...
of the
Three Kings and fit for its role as a place of worship for the
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...
. Despite having been left incomplete during the medieval period, Cologne Cathedral eventually became unified as "a masterpiece of exceptional intrinsic value" and "a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe".
In Cologne, only the telecommunications tower is higher than the cathedral.
Predecessor buildings
Merovingian episcopal church
Maternus of Cologne was the first bishop of Cologne in around 313. However, Cologne's Christian community, still small at this time, did not gather in a church, but in a residential building, which is thought to have been located on the cathedral hill below today's choir. After the collapse of Roman rule on the Rhine, the
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...
petty kings residing in Cologne built an episcopal church on this site in the 6th century, which was eventually around 40 to 50 meters long and equipped with an
ambon. This building, which was probably built by King
Theudebert I, served as a burial place for the royal family; among others, the king's wife
Wisigard was buried here around 537. However, the excavation finds under the cathedral choir do not allow a complete reconstruction of the buildings from the Merovingian period.
Baptistry
Early Christian testimony: Baptistery east to the cathedral choir
Work on Cologne Cathedral was finally finished in 1880. At that time, the Cathedral had a height of 157 metres, making it the tallest building in the world — after a total of 632 years of construction. Except for a few centimetres, both towers are the same height. Already in late antiquity, there was a
baptistery
In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...
to the east of the cathedral choir, where the early Christians, following the rite of the time, stepped into knee-deep water and were completely doused. It is assumed that the baptismal font (
piscina), which dates back to the 5th century, was originally located in the garden of the Roman house that served as a Christian meeting place. Later, the baptistry built above the pool was presumably combined with the cathedral church to form a single building complex, although there is no archaeological evidence of this today. When Hildebold Cathedral was built and equipped with a baptismal font due to the changed rite, only the baptismal piscina remained from the baptistery. Today, this piscina, which is accessible in the base of the cathedral, is considered the oldest evidence of Christian worship in Cologne.
Hildebold Cathedral

In
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...
times, the Old Cathedral was built on Cologne Cathedral Hill and consecrated in 870. The cathedral is now known as Hildebold Cathedral after Bishop
Hildebold, who was a close advisor to
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
and died in 818. However, it is unclear how much the bishop contributed to the building. He probably started the new construction, which Charlemagne also generously supported. The bishop's residence was originally located next to the cathedral.
With a length of around 95 meters, Hildebold Cathedral was one of the largest Carolingian churches ever built and became the architectural rolemodel for numerous churches in the early
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. It was built in the
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...
tradition as a
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...
with two choirs, with the east choir dedicated to
Mary, mother of Jesus
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
and the more important choir in the west to the memory of
Saint Peter
Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...
. Through its patronage, but also in its architecture, Hildebold Cathedral made reference to
Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and was regarded as the St. Peter's Basilica of the North. This was intended to underline Cologne's claim to be a holy city and faithful daughter of the Roman Church. The so-called reliquary-staff of Saint Peter and the chains of Saint Peter were among the church's most important relics. The Hillinus Codex from the 11th century shows Hildebold Cathedral in an unusually realistic depiction for the time. Today, the foundation walls of the Carolingian basilica have been revealed by the cathedral excavations.
On 23 July 1164, the
Archbishop of Cologne and Imperial
Archchancellor
An archchancellor (, ) or chief chancellor was a title given to the highest dignitary of the Holy Roman Empire, and also used occasionally during the Middle Ages to denote an official who supervised the work of chancellors or notaries.
The Car ...
Rainald of Dassel
Rainald of Dassel (c. 1120 – 14 August 1167) was Archbishop of Cologne and Archchancellor of Italy from 1159 until his death. A close advisor to the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa, he had an important influence on Imperial p ...
brought the bones of the
Three Wise Men from
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
to Cologne, which was perceived as a "propaganda success".
[Rüdiger Marco Booz: ''Kölner Dom, die vollkommene Kathedrale,'' Petersberg 2022, p. 26.] The relics had been left to the archbishop by Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...
from his spoils of war. They had been considered worthy of veneration at least since their transfer. Whether Rainald von Dassel himself or the Milanese patricians should be regarded as the "inventors" of the relics is disputed in academic literature.
In any case, between 1190 and 1225, the
Shrine of the Three Kings was made for the highly respected saints in Cologne, which is considered one of the most sophisticated goldsmith's works of the Middle Ages; the shrine was placed in the center of the Old Cathedral. Cologne thus became an internationally renowned place of pilgrimage in Europe. To oversee the pilgrim crowds, an office of custos regum ("guardian of the kings") was established after 1162. However, the only narrow side portal of the cathedral was not very suitable for the crowds of pilgrims, as it had to be used as an entrance and an exit at the same time.
With the construction of the Gothic cathedral in 1248, the Old Cathedral was to be demolished step by step. However, careless demolition work and fire destroyed not only the east choir, but almost the entire cathedral; the Shrine of the Three Kings was saved from the fire. The western parts of Hildebold Cathedral were provisionally rebuilt and were only taken down after 1322, when the Gothic choir was completed and construction of the Gothic nave began.
Building history of the Gothic cathedral
Medieval beginning
The
foundation stone was laid on Saturday, 15 August 1248, by Archbishop
Konrad von Hochstaden. The eastern arm was completed under the direction of
Master Gerhard, was consecrated in 1322 and sealed off by a temporary wall so it could be used as the work continued. Eighty-four
misericord
A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a p ...
s in the
choir
A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
date from this building phase.. This work ceased in 1473, leaving the south tower complete to the belfry level and crowned with a huge crane that remained in place as a landmark of the Cologne skyline for 400 years. Some work proceeded intermittently on the structure of the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
between the west front and the eastern arm, but during the 16th century this also stopped.
File:Botanischer-Garten-am-Dom-um-1820.JPG, The unfinished cathedral in 1820, engraved by Henry Winkles. The huge crane on the tower of the cathedral is visible in the picture.
File:Johannesfranciscus-Michiels bau-des-doms-koeln-1855.jpg, The unfinished cathedral in 1855. The medieval crane was still in place, while constructions for the nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
had been resumed earlier in 1814.
File:Rheinpanorama 1856 detail Dom.jpg, The unfinished cathedral in 1856. The east end had been finished and roofed, while other parts of the building are in various stages of construction.
19th-century completion

With the 19th-century
Romantic enthusiasm for the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, and spurred by the discovery of the original plan for the façade, the Protestant
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n Court working with the church, committed to complete the cathedral. It was achieved by civic effort; the ''
Central-Dombauverein'', founded in 1842, raised two-thirds of the enormous costs, while the Prussian state supplied the remaining third. The state saw this as a way to improve its relations with the large number of Catholic subjects it had gained in 1815, but especially after 1871, it was regarded as a project to symbolize German nationhood.
Work resumed in 1842 to the original design of the surviving medieval plans and drawings, but using more modern construction techniques, including iron roof
girder
A girder () is a Beam (structure), beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a sta ...
s. The nave was completed and the towers were added. The bells were installed in the 1870s. The largest bell is ''
St. Petersglocke''.
The completion of Germany's largest cathedral was celebrated as a national event on 15 October 1880, 632 years after construction had begun.
The celebration was attended by Emperor
Wilhelm I. With a height of , it was the tallest building in the world for four years until the completion of the
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...
.
World War II and post-war history
The twin spires of the cathedral were an easily recognizable navigational landmark for Allied aircraft bombing during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The cathedral suffered fourteen hits by
aerial bombs during the war. Badly damaged, it nevertheless remained standing in an otherwise completely flattened city.
On 6 March 1945, an area west of the cathedral (Marzellenstrasse/Trankgasse) was the site of intense combat between American tanks of the
3rd Armored Division and a
Panther Ausf. A of
Panzer brigade 106 Feldherrnhalle. A nearby Panther, a German medium tank, was sitting by a pile of rubble near a train station right by the twin spires of the Cologne Cathedral. The Panther successfully knocked out two
Sherman tanks, killing three men, before it was destroyed by a
T26E3 Pershing, nicknamed Eagle 7, minutes later. Film footage of that battle survives.
Repairs of the war damage were completed in 1956. A
repair to part of the northwest tower, carried out in 1944 using poor-quality brick taken from a nearby ruined building, remained visible as a reminder of the war until 2005, when it was restored to its original appearance.
To investigate whether the bombings had damaged the foundations of the Dom, archaeological excavations began in 1946 under the leadership of
Otto Doppelfeld and were concluded in 1997. One of the most meaningful excavations of churches, they revealed previously unknown details of earlier buildings on the site.
Repair and maintenance work is constantly being carried out in the building, which is rarely free of scaffolding, as wind, rain, and pollution slowly eat away at the stones. The ''Dombauhütte'', established to build the cathedral and keep it in repair, employs skilled stonemasons for the purpose. Half the costs of repair and maintenance are still borne by the
Dombauverein.
File:Hasak - Der Dom zu Köln - Bild 02 Westseite.jpg, The west front of the completed cathedral in 1911
File:Warning sign in cologne.jpg, US soldier and destroyed Panther tank
The Panther tank, officially ''Panzerkampfwagen V Panther'' (abbreviated Pz.Kpfw. V) with Sonderkraftfahrzeug, ordnance inventory designation: ''Sd.Kfz.'' 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used in most European theatre of ...
, 4 April 1945
File:KAS-Verteidigungsbeitrag-Bild-14612-1.jpg, alt=Anti-Soviet propaganda poster featuring a Soviet soldier in front of the Cologne Cathedral to encourage West German public opinion in favor of rearmament, Anti-Soviet propaganda poster, early 1950s
21st century
On 18 August 2005,
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
visited the cathedral during his apostolic visit to Germany, as part of
World Youth Day 2005 festivities. An estimated one million pilgrims visited the cathedral during this time. Also as part of the events of World Youth Day, Cologne Cathedral hosted a televised gala performance of
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's
Missa Solemnis, performed by the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England.
The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...
and the
London Philharmonic Choir conducted by
Gilbert Levine.
On 25 August 2007, the cathedral received a
new stained glass window in the south
transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...
. The glass work was created by the German artist
Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced Abstract art, abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, photographs and Glass art, glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important con ...
with the €400,000 cost paid by donations. It is composed of 11,500 identically sized pieces of coloured glass resembling
pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a Raster graphics, raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, p ...
s, randomly arranged by computer, which create a colourful "carpet". Since the loss of the original window in World War II, the space had been temporarily filled with plain glass. The then archbishop of the cathedral,
Cardinal Joachim Meisner, who had preferred a figurative depiction of 20th-century Catholic martyrs for the window, did not attend the unveiling. Holder of the office since 2014 is Cardinal
Rainer Maria Woelki.
On 5 January 2015, the cathedral remained dark as floodlights were switched off to protest a demonstration by
PEGIDA.
Antisemitic and Jewish-Christian art
In the 2000s, the cathedral chapter began to investigate and critique antisemitic imagery within some of the cathedral's artifacts.
This movement began with outside artists who publicly called for the cathedral to reckon with its antisemitic imagery. In 2002, the Melanchthon Akademie held a conference on this topic, and the performance artist Wolfram Kastner specifically protested the
Judensau imagery carved into the cathedral's choir stalls.
Kastner and fellow artist Günter Wangerin protested further over the next few years, demanding the installation of an educational sign for the carving, as well as the removal of stone swastika carvings. In 2006, the Karl Rahner Academie and cathedral administration held a colloquium to discuss potential actions, and in 2017 the cathedral chapter created a working group in partnership with the Cologne Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation. The translated title of the cathedral's working group is "The Cathedral and 'the Jews'."
As of 2024, the working group opted to leave all the antisemitic art in place, not removing or modifying it, but also not hiding it. The stated intention behind this choice was to allow interested viewers to learn more about the antisemitic content of the art by viewing it in its original place and having the ability to inspect it closely.
The cathedral offers dedicated guided tours for studying and critiquing these artifacts. However, members of the working group wanted all of the cathedral's visitors, not just a highly-motivated subset, to consider how the cathedral's art portrays Jewish-Christian relationships.
The working group decided to challenge existing antisemitic artwork by adding prominent new art to the cathedral. In August 2023, the working group launched the Cologne Cathedral International Art Competition, calling for a new permanent artwork that openly acknowledged the full history of Jewish-Christian relations while focusing on their present and future.
The competition rejected seven nominated artists because they had signed open letters criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza or calling for boycotts. This echoed a broader debate in Germany over how cultural institutions should handle artists' response to the conflict, and the balance between enabling artists' speech and combating antisemitism.
On 3 April 2025, the cathedral chapter announced that
Andrea Büttner had won the Cologne Cathedral International Art Competition, with her proposed mural for the wall of the Chapel of St. Mary. Her mural will include a life-size realistic painting of the stone base of the
Torah ark
A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls.
History
The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...
from a previous synagogue in Cologne, painted to float above the existing
Altarpiece of the Patron Saints of Cologne. The art is designed to counter the overwriting of
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures.
Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...
: after a
pogrom
A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...
in Cologne, the Torah ark was damaged and removed, its synagogue replaced with a chapel, and the base of the ark was used to support the Altarpiece of the Patron Saints of Cologne where it originally sat in the new chapel. Büttner stated that she wanted her piece to "take something that has been hidden from the cathedral's visitors up to now and have it openly displayed in a central location."
World Heritage Site
In 1996, the cathedral was added to the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage List
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
of culturally important sites.
In 2004, it was placed on the "World Heritage in Danger" list, as the only Western site in danger, due to plans to construct several high-rise buildings nearby, which would have visually impacted the site. The cathedral was removed from the "in danger" list in 2006, following the authorities' decision to limit the heights of buildings constructed near and around the cathedral.
As a World Heritage Site and host to the
Shrine of the Three Kings, Cologne Cathedral is a major attraction for tourists and pilgrims, and is one of the oldest and most important pilgrimage sites of Northern Europe. Visitors can climb 533 stone steps of the spiral staircase to a viewing platform about above the ground. The platform gives a scenic view over the
Rhine
The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
.
Ongoing renovation
The cathedral is a medieval building that was built very solidly from a structural point of view. At the same time, however, the stone structure requires continuous maintenance and renovation. The cathedral's master builder
Barbara Schock-Werner said: "Cologne Cathedral without scaffolding is not a pipe dream, but a nightmare. It would mean that we would no longer be able to afford the cathedral."
In fact, the completed cathedral was only visible without scaffolding for a few years. After the official completion of the cathedral in 1880, finishing work continued for around 20 years. Shortly before his death in 1902, master builder Richard Voigtel publicly stated that the cathedral had finally been completed. However, after the wings of an angel figure fell from the façade in 1906, the cathedral master builders resumed the renovation work.
The cathedral is built from different types of rock, which weather to varying degrees due to their characteristics. The filigree buttresses and arches are exposed to the weather from all sides and are attacked by water, the sulphur content of the air and bird droppings. Especially from the 1960s onwards,
acid rain
Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists b ...
severely affected the stones and turned them increasingly black. It was only from the 1990s onwards that air pollution control measures reduced the level of pollution.
The Schlaitdorf
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
, which was used from 1842 onwards for the transept façades and the upper parts of the nave and transept, shows the most intensive
weathering
Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs '' in situ'' (on-site, with little or no move ...
. It is therefore constantly being renewed and until the 1980s was preferably replaced with Londorf
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
lava, which is considered to be very weather-resistant, but is not sandy beige, but grey in color. Since the 1990s, however, the cathedral master builders have endeavored to carry out the restoration with stones that come as close as possible to the original sandstone. The cathedral works (Dombauhütte) has already tested numerous means of preserving the stones. A convincing method has not yet been found. In addition, the iron anchors and dowels that hold the many parts of the architectural decoration are also beginning to rust. They are threatening to crack the stones and need to be replaced with steel parts. "It is therefore foreseeable that no one alive today will ever see the cathedral without scaffolding."
Regular renovation work is required due to sporadic earthquake damage. For example, during the
1992 Roermond earthquake, the 400 kg finial on the eastern pinnacle of the southern transept gable broke off, smashed through the roof and damaged the roof truss. Four other finials were loosened.
From May to November 2021, a remote-controlled drone took 200,000 high-resolution photos of all parts of the façade from a distance of five to seven meters and assembled them into a digital 3D model of the cathedral, which offers a very accurate representation with 25 billion polygons. This makes it possible to precisely document the current condition and the need for conservation and restoration, even in remote areas. The 3D model has a size of 50 gigabytes. The cost of creating the model was in the six-figure range.
Architecture
The ground plan design of Cologne Cathedral was based closely on that of
Amiens Cathedral
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens (), or simply Amiens Cathedral, is a Catholic Church, Catholic cathedral. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Amiens. It is situated on a slight ridge overlooking the River Somme in Amiens, the administra ...
, as is the style and the width to height proportion of the central nave. The plan is in the shape of a
Latin Cross, as is usual with Gothic cathedrals. It has two aisles on either side, which help support one of the very highest Gothic vaults in the world, being nearly as tall as that of the
Beauvais Cathedral, much of which was never built or had collapsed. Externally the outward thrust of the vault is taken by
flying buttress
The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of a ramping arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall ou ...
es in the French manner. The eastern end has a single
ambulatory
The ambulatory ( 'walking place') is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th century but by the 13t ...
, the second aisle resolving into a ''
chevet'' of seven radiating chapels.
Internally, the medieval choir is more varied and less mechanical in its details than the 19th-century building. It presents a French style arrangement of very tall
arcade, a delicate narrow
triforium
A triforium is an interior Gallery (theatre), gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, o ...
gallery lit by windows and with detailed tracery merging with that of the windows above. The
clerestory
A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both.
Historically, a ''clerestory' ...
windows are tall and retain some old figurative glass in the lower sections. The whole is united by the tall shafts that sweep unbroken from the floor to their capitals at the spring of the vault. The vault is of plain quadripartite arrangement.
The choir retains a great many of its original fittings, including the carved stalls, despite French Revolutionary troops having desecrated the building. A large stone statue of
St Christopher looks down towards the place where the earlier entrance to the cathedral was, before its completion in the late 19th century.
The nave has many 19th century stained glass windows. A set of five on the south side, called the ''Bayernfenster'', were a gift from
Ludwig I of Bavaria, and strongly represent the painterly German style of the time.
Externally, particularly from a distance, the building is dominated by its huge spires, which are entirely Germanic in character, being openwork like those of
Ulm,
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
,
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
and
Regensburg Cathedrals.
File:Cologne cathedral aerial (25326253726) b.jpg, An aerial view shows the cruciform plan.
File:Cologne cathedrale vue sud.jpg, The cathedral from the south
File:Koelner-dom-spire b.jpg, The exterior of one of the spires
File:Cathedral main entrance b.jpg, The main entrance shows the 19th century decoration.
File:Koelner dom blick nach osten.jpg, The flying buttresses and pinnacles of the Medieval east end
File:Cologne Cathedral interior b.jpg, Interior of the Medieval east end, showing the extreme height
File:Koelner dom neue orgel.jpg, This "swallows' nest" organ was built into the gallery in 1998 to celebrate the cathedral's 750 years.
Dimensions
Treasures
One of the treasures of the cathedral is the high altar, which was installed in 1322. It is constructed of black marble, with a solid slab long forming the top. The front and sides are overlaid with white marble niches into which are set figures, with the
Coronation of the Virgin at the centre. Joan Holladay has discussed the iconography of the high altar in the cathedral.
The most celebrated work of art in the cathedral is the ''
Shrine of the Three Kings'', commissioned by Philip von Heinsberg, archbishop of Cologne from 1167 to 1191 and created by Nicholas of Verdun, begun in 1190. It is traditionally believed to hold the remains of the
Three Wise Men, whose relics were acquired by
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...
at the conquest of Milan in 1164. The shrine takes the form of a large
reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''.
Relics may be the purported ...
in the shape of a basilican church, made of bronze and silver, gilded and ornamented with architectonic details, figurative sculpture, enamels and gemstones. The shrine was opened in 1864 and was found to contain bones and garments.
Near the
sacristy
A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.
The sacristy is us ...
is the ''
Gero Crucifix'', a large crucifix carved in oak and with traces of paint and gilding. Believed to have been commissioned around 960 for Archbishop Gero, it is the oldest large crucifix north of the
Alps
The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
...
and the earliest-known large free-standing Northern sculpture of the medieval period.
In the Sacrament Chapel is the ''Mailänder Madonna'' ("Milan Madonna"), a high Gothic carving, depicting the Blessed Virgin and the infant Jesus. It was made in the Cologne Cathedral workshop sometime around 1290 as a replacement for the original which was lost in a fire. The altar of the patron saints of Cologne with an altarpiece by the
International Gothic
International Gothic is a period of Gothic art that began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by the ...
painter
Stefan Lochner
Stefan Lochner (the ''Dombild Master'' or ''Master Stefan''; c. 1410 – late 1451) was a German painter working in the late International Gothic period. His paintings combine that era's tendency toward long flowing lines and brilliant colours ...
is in the ''Marienkapelle'' ("St. Mary's Chapel").
After completion in 1265, the radiating chapels were immediately taken into service as a burial place. The relics of
Saint Irmgardis found a final resting place in the St. Agnes' Chapel. Her
trachyte
Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (or shallow intrus ...
sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...
is considered to be created by the cathedral masons' guild around 1280.
Other works of art are in the Cathedral Treasury.
Embedded in the interior wall are a pair of
stone tablets
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tablets of the Law (also Tablets of Stone, Stone Tablets, or Tablets of Testimony; Biblical Hebrew: לוּחֹת הַבְּרִית ''lūḥōṯ habbǝrīṯ'' "tablets of the covenant", לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶ ...
on which are carved the provisions formulated by Archbishop Englebert II (1262–67) under which Jews were permitted to reside in Cologne.
File:Gerokreuz full 20050903.jpg, The '' Crucifix of Bishop Gero'', 10th century, the oldest known large crucifix
File:Cologne Cathedral Shrine of Magi.jpg, The Shrine of the Three Kings
File:Kölner Dom - Christophorus (2008) b.jpg, St. Christopher statue by Tilman van der Burch, c. 1470
File:Dombild Maria Anbetung-5195 (cropped) b.jpg, alt=Rectangular central section of an altarpiece in the International Gothic style, showing the Three Kings adoring the Christ Child. The arrangement is formal, balanced and intricately detailed. The Virgin Mary, in a robe of brilliant blue, sits enthroned with Jesus on her knee at the centre of the painting. The figures have a sweet, doll-like quality. On either side kneel the two older kings clothed in robes of patterned velvet, one green and the other crimson, with gifts of a golden box and a silver chalice. The youngest king stands behind one of the kneeling figures, and presents a container of semi-precious stone., The Dombild Altarpiece of the Three Kings by Stefan Lochner
Stefan Lochner (the ''Dombild Master'' or ''Master Stefan''; c. 1410 – late 1451) was a German painter working in the late International Gothic period. His paintings combine that era's tendency toward long flowing lines and brilliant colours ...
File:Cologne Cathedral window, interior view (2) b.jpg, ''Petrus- und Wurzel Jesse-Fenster'', 1509
File:Cologne Cathedral window, interior view (1) b.jpg, ''Anbetungs-Fenster'', 1846
File:Richter window Cologne Cathedral.jpg, Modern stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
window by Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced Abstract art, abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, photographs and Glass art, glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important con ...
(2007)
File:Koeln-Hohe Domkirche St Peter und Maria-Zentrum des Chorobergadens mit Koenigsfenstern b.jpg
Church music
Cologne Cathedral has two
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...
s by
Klais Orgelbau: the Transept Organ, built in 1948, and the Nave Organ, built in 1998. Cathedral organists have included
Josef Zimmermann,
Clemens Ganz (1985–2001) and
Winfried Bönig (2001).
Bells
The cathedral has eleven church bells, four of which are medieval. The first was the 3.8-tonne ''Dreikönigsglocke'' ("Bell of the Three Kings"), cast in 1418, installed in 1437, and recast in 1880. Two of the other bells, the ''Pretiosa'' (10.5 tonnes; at that time the largest bell in the Western world) and the ''Speciosa'' (5.6 tonnes) were installed in 1448 and remain in place today.

During the 19th century, as the building neared completion, there was a desire to increase the number of bells. This was facilitated by Kaiser Wilhelm I who gave
French bronze cannon, captured in 1870–71, for this purpose. The 22 pieces of artillery were displayed outside the cathedral on 11 May 1872. Andreas Hamm in
Frankenthal used them to cast a bell of over 27,000 kilos on 19 August 1873. The tone was not harmonious and another attempt was made on 13 November 1873. The Central Cathedral Association, which had agreed to take over the costs, did not want this bell either. Another attempt took place on 3 October 1874. The colossal bell was shipped to Cologne and on 13 May 1875, installed in the cathedral. This ''Kaiserglocke'' was eventually melted in 1918 to support the German war effort. The Kaiserglocke was the largest free-swinging bell in history.
The 24-tonne ''
St. Petersglocke'' ("Bell of St. Peter", "'" in the
Kölsch language or in common parlance known as "''Dicker Pitter''"), was cast in 1922 and was the largest free-swinging bell in the world, until a new bell was cast in Innsbruck for the
People's Salvation Cathedral in Bucharest, Romania. This bell is only rung on eight major holidays such as Easter and Christmas.
On Thursday, 3 March 2022, landmark cathedrals across Europe chimed in unison "in a gesture of solidarity with Ukraine, as bystanders gathered to mourn those killed during Russia's invasion and pray for peace." The ''Kölner Dom'' was among them.
See also
*
Gothic cathedrals and churches
Gothic cathedrals and churches are religious buildings constructed in Europe in Gothic style between the mid-12th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The cathedrals are notable particularly for their great height and their extensive u ...
*
List of Gothic Cathedrals in Europe
*
Architecture of cathedrals and great churches
Cathedrals, collegiate churches, and monastic churches like those of abbeys and priories, often have certain complex structural forms that are found less often in parish churches. They also tend to display a higher level of contemporary a ...
*
Gero Cross
*
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...
*
Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
*
List of buildings and structures
This is a list of list of buildings and nonbuilding structures.
By type
* List of abbeys and priories
* List of contemporary amphitheatres, List of amphitheatres (contemporary)
* List of Roman amphitheatres, List of amphitheatres (Roman)
...
*
List of highest church naves
*
List of cathedrals in Germany
This is the list of cathedrals in Germany sorted by christian denomination, denomination.
Some Reformation, pre-Reformation cathedrals in Germany, now within one of the Lutheranism, Lutheran or Prussian Union of Churches, united Protestant churc ...
*
List of tallest structures built before the 20th century
References
Sources
*Booz, Rüdiger Marco, ''Kölner Dom, Die vollkommene Kathedrale'', Petersberg 2022
*Swaan, Wim and Christopher Brooke, ''The Gothic Cathedral'', Omega Books 1969,
*Fletcher, Banister, ''A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method''.
*Hubbard, Howard, ''Masterpieces of Western Sculpture'', Thames and Hudson,
*Wolff, Arnold, ''Cologne Cathedral. Its History – Its Works of Arts'', Verlag (editor) Kölner Dom, Cologne: 2nd edition 2003,
External links
*
Cologne Cathedral musicWeb cam showing Cologne Cathedral
*
5 Gigapixels GigaPan of Cologne Cathedral
{{Authority control
Churches completed in 1880
Former world's tallest buildings
Gothic architecture in Germany
Landmarks in Cologne
Landmarks in Germany
Roman Catholic cathedrals in North Rhine-Westphalia
Tourist attractions in Cologne
Innenstadt, Cologne
World Heritage Sites in Germany
Christian architecture
Articles containing video clips
1880 establishments in Germany
Pilgrimage churches in Germany